Sri Lanka Cricket has announced a domestic triangular four day tournament to fill the void created by the postponed tour of Zimbabwe. The tournament is to feature Sri Lanka’s Test side and the cream of its first class roster.
The three teams to take part will be the President XI, Sri Lanka A, and Development Squad. The President XI will be captained by Sri Lanka Test Captain Angelo Mathews, and consist largely Sri Lanka’s Test players. The A team and the Development squad will be captained by Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne respectively. Both players are being groomed for future leadership, and it is likely that this opportunity was afforded to give them some experience with leadership.
Notable developments in the rosters are the inclusion of Prasanna Jayewardene and Thisara Perera in the Board XI, and the omission of Shaminda Eranga from it. Eranga has been slated to play for the Development squad, although that may be to afford him a chance to bowl against the better batsmen in the tournament.
The tournament kicks off on the 8th of October and will be played out at the SSC and the P Sara Oval grounds. It will consist of three matches with each team playing each other once. The matches have been granted first class status.
Board XI: Angelo Mathews (capt), Dimuth Karunaratne, TM Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Perera, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Nuwan Kulasekara, Sachithra Senanayake, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Thisara Perera, Ajantha Mendis, Lahiru Jayaratne, T Priyashankar
Sri Lanka A: Dinesh Chandimal (capt & wk), Mahela Udawatte, Pabasara Waduge, Kaushal Silva, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Ashan Priyanjan, Chaturanga de Silva, Ishan Jayaratne, Dilruwan Perera, Nuwan Pradeep, Vimukthi Perera, Madura Lakmal, Chathura Randunu, Ramith Rambukwella, Bhanuka Rajapaksa
Development Team: Lahiru Thirimanne (capt), Shehan Jayasuriya, Kusal Perera (wk), Rumesh Buddika, Sachithra Serasinghe, Roshen Silva, Dhanushka Gunathilaka, Madawa Warnapura, Tharindu Kaushal, Malinda Pushpakumara, Vishwa Fernando, Kanishka Alvitigala, Lahiru Gamage, Shaminda Eranga, Niroshan Dickwella, Seekkuge Prasanna
1st Match – President XI vs Development Squad – 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th Oct’13 – P’Sara
2nd Match – SL “A” Team vs Development Squad- 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th Oct’13 – SSC
3rd Match – President XI vs SL “A” Team -21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th Oct’13 – SSC
